Champion, Taylor Lift Birds To Win Over Lincoln

SIOUX FALLS, SD -- Adam Champion turned in a quality start, and Jake Taylor did a little bit of everything to carry the Sioux Falls Canaries to a 4-1 win over the Lincoln Saltdogs Wednesday afternoon in front of 3,130 fans at Sioux Falls Stadium.

Champion (3-1) won for the third straight start, holding Lincoln to four hits and just one run in 6 2/3 innings. He retired nine of the last 10 men faced after yielding the game’s first run on Mike Provencher’s RBI single in the top of the fourth. Champion walked two and struck out four.

Meanwhile, the Canaries’ offense took advantage of the limited opportunities offered by former big leaguer and Lincoln starter Joe Bisenius (3-2). Trailing 1-0, Taylor reached on an infield single, and Jared Clark belted a double high off the center field wall to bring Taylor home and tie the game.

In the sixth, Nick Van Stratten tripled with one out and plated on Taylor’s go-ahead sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.

The Canaries received a gift-wrapped run in the seventh thanks to a Yasel Gomez throwing error.

In the eighth, Taylor added a solo home run for the Birds’ final tally, capping a 2-for-3 afternoon with two RBI and two runs and hiking his season average to .319.

Taylor also contributed behind the plate while making his first start at catcher. He was part of a key strike-‘em-out, throw-‘em’out double play in the eighth inning after the leadoff batter walked.

Matt Daly relieved Champion in the seventh and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings before giving way to closer Alan DeRatt for the ninth. DeRatt yielded two base hits to allow a potential tying run to the plate, but he induced Provencher into a 4-6-3, game-ending double play for his seventh save of the year.

Bisenius was effective but took the loss, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out nine.

After an off day on Thursday, the Canaries will begin a 10-game road trip through Texas that takes them to Amarillo, Laredo and El Paso across more than 3,200 miles. The first game of three-game series against the Amarillo Sox is at 7:05 p.m. on Friday.